China’s extraordinary cement consumption in numbers

Accordingto French bank Societe Generale, the most striking example of an over-exuberantChinese construction market can be found in the country’s cement consumption.As per their latest note:

“In2011, Chinese cement consumption is likely to have exceeded 2,000 milliontonnes, representing more than 55% of global cement consumption. Per capita,the picture looks even crazier with average consumption of 1,500kg per head,nearly 5x higher than the world average ex-China. Within the last 10 yearsChina has consumed roughly the same cement per capita as the US over the past100 years!”

Andthe warning…

“Allcountries where cement consumption per capita exceeded 1,200kg for a few years haveexperienced a construction crisis sooner or later. The latest example of thisrule of thumb is Spain.”

Examplesof where the cement is being employed:

With 60 meters of paved roads per car, Chinastands two to three times above the standard of developed countries.

The length of the Chinese expressway network ison par with that of the US while the two countries have largely the same area.

The Chinese high speed railway network is by farthe longest globally and should reach almost 10,000km by 2015.